Because medicine is in a perpetual state of evolution, it is incumbent upon medical practitioners to be lifelong learners, always sharpening their intellect and skillset. In recent years, much of this continuing education has become reliant on technology. While clinicians have access to scientific journals, magazines, blogs, podcasts, and other digital sources at their fingertips, quickly accessing full research articles continues to be a hindrance. Enter QxMD, a company designing apps to help clinicians keep up with the latest research and integrate decision support tools into their practices.

On today’s episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Lakhia welcomes the co-founder of Back Talk doc’s new sponsor, QxMD, Dr. Daniel Schwartz. Dr. Schwartz is a practicing kidney doctor, nephrologist, clinical educator, and vice president of WebMD. Additionally, he’s the medical director of a regional home dialysis program and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Schwartz shares his experience building QxMD. From starting with a product with no commercial strategy to an eventual partnership with WebMD, Dr. Schwartz reveals how solving his own problem led him to designing a service focused on making it easier for doctors and other healthcare providers to access relevant medical literature. Dr. Schwartz also walks us through three of QxMD’s innovative products: Calculate, Read, and Learn.

Highlights from the episode:

• Dr. Schwartz’s path from clinician to entrepreneur (03:37)
• On building a useful product and then finding a pathway to profit (06:52)
• What is QxMD? (09:39)
• Overcoming access to information obstacles (13:45)
• The birth of QxMD (17:13)
• The relationship between QxMD and WebMD. (22:43)
•  What’s on the horizon for QxMD (28:01)
• Health hacks from Dr. Daniel Schwartz (30:13)

For more information about QxMD visit qxmd.com, or email contact@qxmd.com. To try QxMD’s apps, download them on your device’s app store or follow these links:

Calculate by QxMD, Read by QxMD, Learn by QxMD.

For more information on Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia’s practice, visit BackTalkDoc.com

Back Talk Doc is brought to you by Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, with offices in North and South Carolina. To learn more about Dr. Lakhia and treatment options for back and spine issues, go to backtalkdoc.com. To schedule an appointment with Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, you can call us at 1-800-344-6716 or visit our website at carolinaneurosurgery.com.